americans headed to the polls some of them voting with an eye towards a bigger prize. toronto's mayor said he did it, confessing to smoking crack cocaine. and kate up in syria's war, a new report that finds that more than 40% of syrians now say they need help with the basics. it is election day, 2013, and people across the country are headed to thele pros trying to make important decisions. voters in some of the largest cities are

choosing their major, in just a moment we will take a closer look at the race for mayor in detroit and new york. but the biggest races so far are in new jersey and virginia. that is where voters are going to the polls because they want to choose their next governor. in new jersey that race could set half the stage for the 2016 presidential election. john, why is a localing election for governor gathering so much attention? >> because of the governor of chris christie because of how he handled hurricane sandy, to atlantic city just a few days before the 2012 election, new jerseyians know who he is. they pretty much have no idea who the challenger is. and that is a big problem. she is raised around two to $3 million he has raised five times that much. he is on television here, everybody know whose he is.

and so going forward, we have a situation where there is a local election, the polls suggest that the governor will win it by a large margin. she wants to raise income tack, he wants to lower income tax, for everybody but the super rich. bety way, his business record is not really fantastic. he is trying to incentivize business to come here with mixed success, but because of andy, and because of that national name, if the government does well tonight, and it looks like he will, then people are talking about him being top of the republican party ticket in 2016 to possibly run against hillary clinton if she runs for the democrats. >> job there are always the pesky polls so what they are saying? >> governor cristty doesn't think they are pesky, not right now, because the last one i saw he was about 28 points ahead.

is that he appeals across the board, to voters in new jersey. so that's the 20% who are republicans the 33% who are democrats and also crucial, 47% who are independent or swing voters. now he has said that he knows the level are looking at what he does tonight, because of that demographic, with a view to see whether he might be a good fit for them in 2016. and this is a governor who says i don't care how everybody else plays i do it my way, i do it by the chris christie vote, right now, that seems appealing to a republican party that doesn't seem to have a firm leader at the top. john, thank you very much. there is also that heated race for the governor.

some say a victory there will only be symbolic, because the new mayor will be forced to fix potholes while someone else pulls the purse strings. that story. >> after decades of decline, detroit is poised to elect its first white mayor since 1974. former hospital ceo heads into tuesday's election, with a strong lead over fellow democrat wayne county sheriff benny napoleon. the most recent poll has duncan ahead by 24%. >> about those ruts so far, i have a three letter word, wow. >> university of detroit mercy, marketing professor says his lead

shows that in a city that's over 80% african-american, there's support for new leadership regardless of race. >> it appears duncan's reputation is being a fix it man appeals to voter whose are looking for change. he has been touting his record of overhauling the bus system, and rescuing eight hospitals from fiscal ruin within the detroit medical center. >> we talk about a black city, and this white guys so somebody beliefs he can do something. who has a familiar face to detroiters. >> whoever becomes mayor, their immediate impact may be limited. an emergency manageser in charge of the city for at least another year. sheriff napoleon says his first order of business, will be to change that. >> absolutely, getting rid of kevin is my number one job. >> he has taken a more

consolelatory tone. >> and i am hoping that i will get the authority to run the city. >> a federal judge's decision on bankruptcy may have more immediate impact on this city. then who the voters picked tuesday. still, both candidates share the same passion, to fix what's broken improve public services and the quality of life and leave detroit into its uncertain future. at apologize detroit. >> and coming up in a few minutes we will take a look at the other big city race. today's elections any time and anywhere. we have the stories in the key races we also have a live blog with updates on all of the voting taking place across the country, and then later this evening as those results come in,

you find them all on aljazeera.com. the mayor of canada's largest city is saying more about drug allegations. he is now admitting that he smoked crack cocaine a year ago, but he says he is not an addict. things could be turns around for the affordable care website. it had a rather problematic roll out. a senior officials say it is now easier to sign up, medicare chief telling a senate committee the site can process thousands of allyn't cas per hour, with almost no errors these days. the obama administration says lit running smoothly for most people by the end of november. the senate has now resumed debate on a major antidiscrimination bill. the employment nondiscrimination act would ban employers for discriminating against transgender americans. it is the first

significant gay rights bill since that ban on gays openly serving in the military was done away with. we are learning more that a miami dolphins defensive lineman bully add fellow player, two people familiar with the situation telling the press that he said racist and threatening text messages to his teammate jonathan martin. he left the team last week, the dolphins have sus spented him indefinitely. hopes for talk on peace, now appear to be dashed or at least on hold for a while. leaders from russia, the u.s. and the u.n. couldn't agree on who should be at the table. the crisis is far worse than once believed. there is a new u.n. report that says nearly half, 9.5 million people there living inside that war torn country need help. that's 40% of the population, and up from 6.8% ratter 6.8 million in september.

that's also roughly the size of the population of the state of massachusets. 6.5 million syrians are currently without homes, and 2 million people have already fled that country 4.5 million more internally displaced. era wards reports. >> more than 40% of syria's population now relies on outside help to survive. the situation is getting worse. they estimate that half that population will be there by years end. >> it is not one single event that has caused this. it is a gradual increase, because the conflict continues to deteriorate day after day, hour by hour. >> the 2 1/2 years of civil war have left many syrians without proper sanitation facilities, sufficient food, water, or access to medical

health. of those that have flood, the biggest come from the provinces of heal, and aleppo. which shows where syrians are suffering the most. but for those that have been able to escape the violence, more than 100,000 are seeking shelter in egypt. more than half a million are in jordan, lebanon has the most with more than 800,000 syrians and together turkey and iraq have around 700,000. the u.n. says there is a way to help those in need press conference outside but it is calling on both sides inside syria to allow aid in. a outbreak of polio has made the need more urgent. it identified 35 cases of the disease. >> it is ex-treatmently important to give any kind of a bit of food, health services, medicine, vaccination for

children and so on that we can reach those who are in need. syria and the people in syria, displaced or not, in need of assistance are going into winter. they will need more aid, and we can't reach them. >> so as hundreds of thousands continue to leave the country, and those left behind struggle to stay alive and feed their families it appears worse than ever. ericawoods al jazeera. >> still ahead, it hasn't happened in new york since david din kahns was mayor, why this could signal change. we will be right back.

>> these are your headlines. toronto's mayor now admitting he smoked crack cocaine, said he did so a year ago, but he says he is not an addict. it comes days after they

found a video that they say believe showed him using the drug. they have been hoping for a conference later this month, and no new date has been set. election day, several of the largest cities are elected mayors but the biggest races are in virginia and new jersey, where voters are going to the polls to elect governors. in new york, a democrat could be elected mayor for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century. that is going all the way back to mayor david dinkins. during the primary, the democrat was once at the bottom, so what did he do to get to where he is in this race? some saying now it is his race to lose. >> that will have political scientists doing studies on it for some time to come. a unique coalition of support, that included a sizable number of

african-americans and hispanics. now why is that significant, there was an african-american candidate. former city controller, but thompson did not get as many black and hispanic voters. by the critical moment, was his son's political ad, this kid with an afterpro coming on t.v. saying my dad will stop stop and frisk. and then you see his biracial son, so that putted in a whole lot of voters for him. keep in mind, he has strong union support, and that is always critical factor in any new york city election. as we pointed out there hasn't been a democratic mayor. why do they believe the elector rate is turning its back.

>> that's an interesting question. the city as we all know is in fairly good shape. bloomberg for the past three terms of his campaign -- of his candidacy of his term in office, has kept the city on a pretty solid course. there have been problems with unemployment, of course, but by and large the city is in good shape. to let toe is promising to continue these, but there is a fatigue factor going on here. new york city voters want a change. they have had 12 years of bloomberg, and giuliani in a city that's mostly democrat, and so the pollsters are saying that the voters will be changing horses if you will. everybody thinks that he is the next mayor.

>> we hear so much talk about turn out. what are you seeing with the poll issue place where you are right now. >> not many people going into this particular polling place. the polls don't close until 9:00. soy wouldn't want to make any kind of judgements based on this one polling place. we would have to get a better picture city wide so see whether the turn outs that been marginal. usually in these elections new york city has 4 million voters and you never get more than a million or so. so we'll see. >> randall, live in brooklyn, thank you very much. >> it is called the aisle of enchantment. double digit

unemployment, causing a lot of people to leave puerto rico and head to the mainland. al jazeera meets are family looking for a better life. >> they have sold just about everything they own. his wife and two sons will about to set off on a well worn path. taken by tens of nows of puerto ricans before them. they are moving to florida. >> there are better schools. a better education. right now my sons don't have a social studies teacher. their teachers are missing. they will have a shot at a better education. crime here is sky high. am i going to raise two criminals? no. i don't think so. this is the time to leave. >> lived here for 25

years but is thinking of going back to the dominican republic. >> the people running the country have us all bankrupt, and it is going to stay that way. right now we are running the business ourselves, me, my brother, and my mother, and we are doing it for free. we are not making any money. >> there are still signs of commerce here, but puerto rico's economy is shrinking at an alarming rate. officially the unemployment rate is 13%. some say it is three times higher. >> the more inequality you have, the less healthy as a country, and that's where we are headed right now. if we don't stop this vicious circle we are in a race to the bottom. competing with i don't know who, and competing for what, you know. and we must stop this. >> puerto rico has been in and out of recessions since 2006, the island is $70 billion in debt, it's

lost 200,000 workers over the past couple of years and it could be heading towards default. the u.s. government says it is monitoring the situation, but without financial aid, life for the 3.5 million people that live here could be about to get bleaker. puerto rico. >> and the leaders are now trying to disspell rumors that the island is bankrupt, they would consider leaving just to find some work. stocks are seeing little change for the second strait days a investors are in a wait and see mode as they wait on key data. right now the dow pretty much flat. now in about nine points in the latest report on economic growth in the october jobs report that is coming out later this week. also on tap, twitter's first day of trading which comes on thursday. a solid report on service as key part of the

american economy, a survey of nonmanufacturing business activity last month shows that better than expected increases happening over september. another good sign hiring was on the rise as well, despite the government shut down. services make up about two-thirds of the u.s. economy. and wall street is awaiting word of earnings from one of the hottest car companies around, test la. the electric car company co founded by elan musk the company has seen its share sore 400% this year, analysts say they expect sales of $400 for the quarter alone. that would be a tenfold increase. k mart saying forget the turkey it is time to shop, they will be opening their doors at 6:00 a.m. thanksgiving morning it will stay open 41 hours straight. not the first time that k mart has done this. but in previous years it closed during the day to allow workers some time to eat and celebrate. this year massey's, khols

and jc penny say they will join other chains in welcoming their customers thanksgiving night. next on al jazeera, america. >> it is temporary. but it will be over soon. >> homeless without option, we will tell you about a program that allows people to live in their cars.

people so poor they are forced to live in their cars and their numbers are growing. one way to fix it seems to be setting up parking lots across the country where people can at least get a safe night sleep and some food. david has their story. >> just before 6:00 p.m. as others start their commute home, teresa smith heads towards this unassuming church near downtown san diego. but it isn't religion she is after. it is the parking lot.

basic toil tri-s, snacks that we get in for donations. want to make sure our participants have what they need. >> smith and the nonprofit she founded run what's call add safe parking program, renting the lots from this church and a youth center nearby. it's one of a dozen programs in 85 sites largely along the west coast that provide a safe haven for the roughly 59% of the homeless who have lived in their cars. >> how is your caseload? >> going good. >> smith started the first lot in august 2010 when a new face of homelessness emerged. middle class individuals and families accustom to security and stability, but suddenly cast adrift in long term unemployment. >> they would go down to the shelters come back in tears saying that's not me. i'm not really homeless, i am just in between right now. what do i do, where do i go. >> now, said smith, 76% of those in the lot

report some sort of income, but struggle with more than 1,000 awares in seattle, local homeowner says a growing population of people living in their cars and r.v.s have create add host of problems. >> they steal from us. they drop their trash wherever they want. may bring the property central down. because who wants to buy a house with a camp of america across the street. >> graham cross helped create seattle for safe parking program, he say as few bad eggs may lurk, but says around 70% are first time homeless.

forcing to keep in mind each night that her and her four children spend crammed into their small sedan. >> about a week ago, i just didn't want to come back to this parking lot. it was hard. but, you know, hopefully at the end of the line,ly have something better to offer my kids. so it's temporary. a long temporary, but it will be over soon. >> david chuter al jazeera. >> i'm meteorologist dave warren, this is not a having big storm, but the timing is not the best. as it will continue to spread east and put some snow down in time for the evening rush hour. and now spreading into minnesota. this is what it has been doing, there's heavier rain through nebraska.

right in that boundary is where we are seeing that rain snow line developing. and now spreading into northwestern nebraska northwestern idaho seeing that rain mix with snow, and it's eventually will spread up towards minneapolis. so the visibility gets a communication of where that snow is coming down, and this lower visibility is spreading through iowa, not that low, though, it has to get down to quarter a mile, then you are seeing heavy snow, less than a mile there in south dakota, just under a mile visibility. so some light to maybe moderate snow continues to come down. it will continue to spread to the northeast, this is central time there. still coming down in nebraska, getting the heaviest snow, accumulation can be an inch an hour, and mainly on grassy surfaces the road can be a slushy mess, but still it will be accumulating.

there's cold air moving in behind it, just through this area, heaviest on grassy surfaces and still fairly warm, so it is mainly wet and heavy snow. these temperatures have dropped a bit, below freezing omaha is at 45, and 61 in tulsa, so there's that boundary between the warm and cold air. not a winter storm warning not all that heavy snow, but enough where it can cause some problems. a winter weather advisory remains in effect. >> thank you. well, sometimes there is signs of hope amido an ocean of devastation, and such is the case in fukushima japan where radiation often rules but not for one man and his pets. an animal sanctuary about 12-miles from the plant, you see he refused to follow the evacuation orders because he didn't want to abandon his pets. hungs of animals died but the survivors have multiplied and his sanctuary is now growing. thank you for watching al

jazeera america, earth rise is next. >> i'm russsell beard, in southern kenya, where the latest development in human elephant conflict resolution is creating a real buzz. >> and i'm amanda burrell in indonesia, to see a wasteland restored. >> and i'm sergio quitana in arcata california learning how to flush with pride.